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Comments to SCCMH Board

We gather here, some of us angry, some of us scared, all of us bound by our genuine intentions to do the right thing. We are not a perfect people, but we are called to a perfect mission: to serve our fellow man and to give our children a better world than we received. Every day, residents of Shiawassee are working hard to do this. We volunteer at our schools, we give money to our charities, we teach our children to share. Tonight we come together to choose a course of action for CMH. A course of action that will determine the quality of life for CMH employees and the recipients of the services they provide. Confusion is in the air, but we cannot afford to lose our way, because this course of action will take us toward or away from achieving our mission.

You, the board members, have undoubtedly sought guidance since this issue came before you. It is a difficult question, if you look only at the surface. But if you listen closely to the people of Shiawassee, you will realize how simple this question is.

This is not the first time that we have faced a decision that defines our character. For many years Shiawassee residents have gone to the polls, and we have made our intentions clear. We chose to preserve SATA, even though we could have saved money by ignoring the needs of the people who use it. We chose to keep our libraries, even though we could have saved money by closing them and forcing the patrons to go elsewhere. We have approved almost every millage increase that has been asked of us, even though we have always had the lower cost option of saying “No”. If we were to vote on this issue, we would choose to preserve CMH labor just as it is, even though we could save money by choosing a different path. Time after time, the leadership of Shiawassee has come to us and asked, What kind of society will you be? Our answer has never wavered: we are a compassionate and wise community, and we do not sacrifice our people in order to save a buck.

The question before you tonight is not one of feasibility studies or budgets and cost. The question before you is, What kind of society will you be? We the people of Shiawassee County have already answered that question, and you, the board members of CMH, serve us. With our votes we have called for conscience, decency, and unity. With your vote tonight, will you heed our call? Will you choose to make Shiawassee a compassionate and wise community, or will you choose something different? Will you stand with the people you serve, or will you defy us?

We teach our children to choose the right course of action, even when it is not the path of least resistance. We teach them to do good things, even though the good thing isn’t always the easy thing, and we teach them that there are consequences to face when they make bad choices. Tonight we must set an example and put those lessons to use here. If you turn away from these simple principles, if you hurt the employees and clients of CMH so that you can save some money, then you set an example that no child should follow. You cheapen Shiawassee. You disrespect what we stand for, and you insult us with your lack of faith in our vision for a more perfect community. If you do this, then you sow the wind, because it is only by the grace of God that you do not walk in the shoes of the people whose lives you flirt with tonight, and the day may surely come when you need the gentle hand of a compassionate and wise community to reach out to you. Only then, perhaps, will you realize what you have destroyed.

update: Shiawassee County Commissioner Jaime Pavlica voted to support SCCMH and keep labor internal. Commissioner Jerry Walden refused to make a decision, claiming that his status as a social worker presented a conflict of interest. Caledonia Township Supervisor John Orin’s wife Jan voted to outsource. Ultimately, only 2 people voted to support SCCMH labor. The outsourcing was approved, and 80 people lost their jobs. (that figure according to one report from SCCMH employees)